An Strange Occurrence
by Dulcea Viata
Summary: Emily Dawson has had the worst year of her life, and doesn't know how she can go on, when a strange, young man appears and changes her life forever... Please read and review
1. Chapter 1

**A Strange Occurrence **

Emily Dawson sat alone on a bench, looking out over a dull, grey beach. The rain battered down, relentless, never faltering, never giving in. She gazed down at the sea, the dark, curling waves beating against the shore. Today was her birthday. She was turning fifteen. The one day in the year she hated more than any other.

She rubbed her hands together, trying to muster up some warmth to soothe her numb fingers. The wind whipped across her face, catching her long blonde hair. She tried to pull up her hood further, but her wet jacket just made her colder. She wiggled her feet, water soaking up through the soles of her shoes.

Emily couldn't remember the weather ever being as bad as this, not in August. The beach before her was usually crowded with families at this time of year, laughing and playing, swimming in the sea, building sand castles. But now it lay empty, desolate and bare.

She used to walk along the concrete path with her parents. They went for a walk along the shore almost every Tuesday night to buy an ice cream or fish and chips. She closed her eyes as a tear ran down her face.

Emily sniffed and then stopped. _Is that sound real… _she thought, _or is the wind playing tricks on me… It couldn't possibly be real. _She turned round, trying to find the source of the strange noise. It was like a mechanic whirring, a strange sound, one she had never heard before.

Something appeared in the corner of her eye. Emily turned round to face the impossible.

A box.

A big blue box.

Appearing out of thin air. At this point the box hadn't settled yet so she could still see through it to the trees on the other side. Then all of a sudden it stopped. The noise stopped and the box became solid.

Emily got up off the bench and began to walk towards it. Her head told her to run, that the box meant trouble, but her heart urged her forward. She had almost reached the door of the strange box when suddenly it flew open.

Emily didn't know who was screaming louder. Her, or the odd looking man who appeared from the box.

He couldn't have been much older than twenty-five, with messy brown hair, a tweed jacket and… a bowtie.

"Oh…" he gasped. "Sorry, you just… scared me…" The stranger held out a hand, a large smile creeping onto his face. "I'm the Doctor."

Emily wasn't sure how to proceed. Surely a man who had just stepped out of a giant blue box that had just appeared out of thin air couldn't be normal. Nevertheless, she shook his hand anyway.

"Emily."

"Emily," he smiled. "Emily's a lovely name, I love the name Emily. Brilliant name, don't you think?"

Emily just stared at him. He was just so… so weird. He talked so fast she almost found it difficult to understand what he was saying.

"I guess so."

"So Emily, I don't suppose you can tell me why I'm here? Have you noticed anything strange recently? Anything odd? Anything out of the ordinary?"

"Yes."

"Excellent." He rubbed his hands together. "What?"

"Well," she started. "A strange man appeared out of a blue box that just materialised out of thin air."

The man laughed.

"I like you," he pointed at Emily. "You're funny."

He took a step forward and motioned for Emily to follow. "See, I was travelling in the Tardis," he pointed to the box, "to the planet Raxacoricofallapatorius to visit a certain Slitheen when the Tardis shifted off course and ended up here."

Right. Now Emily knew he was crazy. They reached the bench and 'The Doctor' sat down. Emily paused to ponder his strange choice of name, but then decided it was useless as he wasn't the most normal of people anyway, and sat down too.

"So, Emily," he turned to face her. "Anything else strange been happening lately?" She turned to face the sea once more, racking her brains, searching for anything out of the ordinary.

Then she remembered.

"Yes." She turned back to face the Doctor. "The knocking." He looked at her, brow creased in confusion.

"Knocking?" She nodded.

"Knocking. From my wardrobe. Every night."

The Doctor lent back and slung one arm over the back of the bench.

"Have you ever opened it?"

"Yes," she nodded once more. "But never when they knock. It feels wrong. It goes silent. Really, really silent. And cold. So unimaginably cold."

"But never during the day?" his voice showing a hint of concern.

"No. It never starts until after sunset, and it stops as soon as the sun comes up."

"Right…" He sat there pondering for a few moments, then he suddenly jumped up off the bench.

"Come on," he grinned. "I think I'd better go take a look at this wardrobe."


	2. Chapter 2

**The Wardrobe**

"Doctor, slight problem." Emily looked up at the Doctor. He looked so out of place standing on the doorstep of Longside Children's Home.

"What?"

"I'm pretty sure Maria isn't going to let some strange man up to my room to let him look in my wardrobe."

"Ah yes, I suspected as much. Umm… who's Maria again?"

"She runs Longside."

"Yes, yes of course. Don't worry, won't be a problem." He pressed the doorbell, a faint _ding dong _coming from the other side of the door. "I love doorbells, doorbells are great, I'm going to get a doorbell for the Tardis before I go." Emily shook her head, a confused smile growing on her face.

Suddenly Maria opened the door, and the Doctor held out his hand and held up a black wallet with a piece of white paper in it.

"Hello, my name's Mr. Smith. I work for the education board and I'm interviewing pupils from schools in the area to find out what they think of education.

"Oh yes, of course, come in Mr. Smith."

"Why thank you." The Doctor entered the hallway, a grin apparent on his face.

"I apologise for the noise," Maria said, an apologetic smile on her face. Emily smiled at the familiar clamour of her new home. "I'm just in the middle of making dinner, hectic time of the day, you know?" She shook her head. "You won't get much peace down here, why don't you go up to Emily's room?"

"Excellent idea." The Doctor swung round, nearly knocking a toddler off her feet. "Oh… sorry." He swiftly stepped around her and bounded up the stairs. Emily ran up after him.

He had stopped at the top of the stairs, hands outstretched as if trying to see in the dark.

"Third on the right," Emily smiled.

"Third on the right," he repeated.

They walked along the hallway towards her room and the Doctor reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a strange looking device, with buttons and a green bit at the end.

"What is that?" Emily asked, evidently confused.

"This…" he held the strange device up proudly. "This is my Sonic Screwdriver."

"Sonic what?"

"Sonic Screwdriver. It fixes things… like a screwdriver." He pressed a button and the green end of the screwdriver lit up and made a whirring sound, just like the Tardis had.

He swung open Emily's bedroom door and stepped inside.

"Whoa…" he spun round to face Emily.

"What?" He turned back to face the wardrobe.

"There's _definitely _something in here." Emily stepped through the door and shut it quietly behind her. She walked towards the Doctor and stood beside him, facing the wardrobe.

"This feels like Narnia," she whispered.

"Narnia's great, I love Narnia, lovely place."

"You've been to _Narnia?_"

"Of course," he nodded. "What, you didn't honestly think dear old Mr. Lewis came up with the idea himself, did you?"

Before today there would have been no chance of Emily believing him, but after seeing a blue box appear out of nowhere she was definitely becoming more open minded.

"Well… yeah."

"Nah," he smiled. "Me and Clive go _way _back." Emily looked confused.

"You don't look old enough to know C. S. Lewis."

"Trust me, I'm a _lot _older than you think I am."

Emily turned her head sideways.

"Forty?" she guessed. The Doctor grinned.

"Nine hundred and seven." Emily's mouth dropped open. She looked stunned.

"Anyway," he said, serious now. "Let's see about this wardrobe."

He pulled open the two doors to reveal nothing more than a few items of clothing on hangers and two pairs of shoes at the bottom. The Doctor pressed the button on the Sonic Screwdriver and it lit up once more, the strange mechanic whirring accompanying it as before.

He stared intently into the wavering green light.

"Hmm… interesting…"

"What?" The Doctor stepped out of the wardrobe.

"Delgadan. There's a Delgada in your wardrobe."

"What are _Delgadan_?"

The Doctor turned to face her, confusion and worry spread blatantly across his face.

"They're spirits from the furthest stretches of the universe. Hundreds of thousands of light years away. But why are they here?"

"What do they do?" Emily asked, concern slipping onto her face also.

"They drain your youth. If you had have opened your wardrobe at night…" he shuddered. "You would _undoubtedly _look at least nine times as old as you do now."

"Why are they here? Why Earth? Why _my _wardrobe?"

"One must have gotten left behind. They roam the stars and occasionally one gets forgotten."

"But why _here?_" Emily stressed.

The Doctor's face fell and he sat down gently on the bed, motioning for Emily to sit beside him.

"Delgadan are usually drawn to places of weakness and vulnerability. Children are more vulnerable than adults so that explains the Children's Home. But they are also drawn to areas of immense grief… which must explain why they chose you."

Emily took a deep breath, a lump forming at the back of her throat, tears pricking at her eyes.

"Emily…" The Doctor said softly. "I know it's hard… but if you told me what happened," he took her hand in his, "it might help me to get rid of it."

Emily looked up at the Doctor, eyes filled with tears.

"My parents… my parents died a year ago today. A car accident. They were driving us down to the beach to get fish and chips and…" Emily stopped, held her head in her hands and started sobbing.

The Doctor put his arm gently around her shoulders.

"I'm sorry Emily, I'm so sorry…" She sniffed and wiped the tears from her face.

"It's ok…" The Doctor sighed.

"I… I understand how you feel." Emily looked up at him, eyes brimming with tears once more.

"You do?" The Doctor nodded.

"I'm the last of my kind… alone."

"What happened to them? The…"

"Timelords."

"The Timelords…" The Doctor looked at the floor.

"There was a war. A terrible, _terrible _war. They were wiped out. Now I'm the only one left. A homeless traveller wandering the stars…"

Emily could have sworn she saw his eyes glisten just a little. He sniffed.

"Anyway… the Delgada."

"How do we get rid of it?"

"I'm not sure…" said the Doctor, a smile creeping onto his face. "But I'm sure we'll figure something out."


	3. Chapter 3

**Mithreel**

"Are you _sure _this is a good idea?" Emily asked, still uncertain.

"Yes of _course _it's a good idea. _I_ came up with it, didn't I?"

"I suppose…"

"Good." The Doctor held out his hand to Emily.

"Well Emily, it was a pleasure meeting you."

"And you," she smiled.

"See you soon."

"Bye." Emily shut the door and headed up the stairs. There was _no _way this was going to work.

Emily glanced over at the clock on her bedside table. The numbers 23:59 glowed red against the darkness. She had just fallen asleep when she heard a gentle tapping at the window. She jumped out of bed, rushed over to the window and flung open the curtains. Emily saw the Doctor's silhouette crouching on the window ledge.

"You couldn't open the window now, could you?"

Emily opened the window as quietly as she could, and the Doctor stepped inside. "Thank you."

They walked over to the wardrobe and stood facing it.

"Anything up until now?"

"Nope," replied Emily.

"Good…" whispered the Doctor, his voice heavy with anticipation.

Then it started.

Coldness began to seep out of the wardrobe, creeping along the floor, around the walls, above the ceiling. Emily could feel goosebumps beginning to form on her arms. She could see her breath, it was so cold. The Doctor took her hand. They heard a knock from the wardrobe.

"You ready?" he asked.

"Ready as I'll ever be."

The Doctor reached his hand forward and pulled open the wardrobe. A translucent being floated out of the wardrobe.

The Doctor held up his Sonic Screwdriver. Emily wanted desperately to run from the room, but the Doctor held his ground, and her hand in his made Emily do the same.

"Identify yourself."

The ghostly apparition drifted closer towards the pair. Emily felt certain her heart would stop beating any moment.

"Mithreel…" the Delgada hissed.

"What are you doing here?"

"The girl…" Mithreel pointed to Emily. "The girl calls to me. Beckons me with her sweet youth… So young…"

"Stop," the Doctor demanded. "Come no closer."

"Who are _you _to command _me?_"

"We can talk about this." The Doctor's expression was stern.

"Can we Doctor… can we?" He stopped, looking concerned.

"How do you know my name?"

"I know much," hissed Mithreel. "The girl…" she glanced back at Emily again. "She dreams of you…"

"Leave," the Doctor ordered. "Leave now."

The Delgada drifted forward and reached out a ghostly hand for Emily. The hand came within an inch of Emily's face, but could not go any closer. Mithreel tried desperately to grab Emily, but with no avail.

"What… why?"

"You can't have her," the Doctor replied. "You know what that means."

"The child… is destined for great things…"

"Things that _have _to happen, no matter what."

"Yes…" the Delgada drifted back towards the wardrobe. "I shall find another…"

"No." The Doctor let go of Emily's hand, and stepped towards the wardrobe. "Leave this planet. Go home."

"I no longer have a home…" Mithreel paused. "Just like you… Timelord…"

The Doctor stepped forward and drove the Sonic Screwdriver into the chest of the Delgada. Mithreel screeched and writhed in pain.

"Leave," he ordered. "Now!"

"STOP!" The Doctor took a step back.

"Leave…" he whispered.

"Very well…" whispered Mithreel, and she flew out of the window and into the night.

Emily stood there shaking.

"Is it gone?" The Doctor turned back to face her.

"Yes Emily," he nodded. "It's gone."

Emily felt her legs go weak beneath her as she slipped into unconsciousness…


	4. Chapter 4

**Farewells**

Emily woke up tucked into her bed, the wardrobe door had been closed and the curtains pulled shut. Glancing over towards the wardrobe the events of the night before came flooding back to her.

She sat up with a start, desperately looking around the room for the Doctor. Her heart fell as she realised he was no longer there.

She got up out of bed, still dressed in the same clothes as the night before, deciding that there wasn't much point in getting changed. Her heart heavy she began to make her bed.

As she slipped her hand under the pillow, tucking the duvet in, her hand brushed against a sheet of paper. She pulled it out and began to read the scrawled handwriting:

_Dear Emily, _

_Sorry to leave you so suddenly, but I didn't think Maria would appreciate finding a 900 year old man in your bedroom. I've hidden the Tardis key in the pillow case of the green pillow on the chair nearest the window._

_Hold it tight, and think of me. The Tardis will home in on the key, and fly to wherever you are._

_I'll explain everything. _

_The Doctor_

Emily quickly folded the note up and placed it in her pocket, heading over to the chair nearest the window while doing so. She unzipped the case of the green pillow, and slipped her hand in. She rummaged round the case for a moment, before lifting out a small brass key.

She held the key in her hand and smiled.

Emily sat on the same bench, looking out over the same beach with the same sea as she had the day before. She wasn't sure whether or not to call the Doctor back. She knew trouble must certainly follow him, but her heart told her he was good.

She got up off the bench and walked towards the same spot of grass where the Tardis had stood the previous day. Clasping the key tightly in her hand, she closed her eyes and thought of the Doctor.

Soon enough the somewhat familiar mechanic whirring filled the air, and Emily opened her eyes to find the Tardis beginning to appear.

The Tardis settled and the door swung open once more, and the Doctor stepped out.

"Emily!" he smiled, arms outstretched.

"Doctor," Emily smiled back.

"What took you so long?" Emily looked puzzled.

"It's only been a couple of hours…"

"Maybe for you, but it's been a week for me."

They walked towards the bench and sat down, looking out to the gently ebbing waves. Emily finally broke the silence.

"How did you do that… to the Delgada?"

"I didn't do anything - you did."

"What?" Emily looked up at him in confusion.

"Well," the Doctor cleared his throat. "Throughout the course of time, certain individuals have a… _unique _relationship with time… they… have to do something that absolutely _has _to happen… like Edison and the light bulb."

"So the Delgada couldn't take me because… because I'm destined to do something?" The Doctor nodded.

"Something of immense importance. Something that will change the world _forever._"

Emily sat for a moment, pondering the situation.

"But how did the Sonic Screwdriver _do _that?"

"That's easy," the Doctor smiled. "Because I was holding your hand the screwdriver was connected to you, it was using your energy as well as mine." "And my energy was enough to stop it?"

"Apparently." The Doctor grinned.

Emily stared back at the waves, reminiscing over the past day, knowing her life had changed forever. She stopped for a minute, a question entering her train of thought.

"Doctor?"

"Yes?"

"The Tardis… how does it… work?"

"Come on," the Doctor grinned and held out his hand for Emily.

They stopped just outside the Tardis and the Doctor reached out a hand for the door, pausing for a moment.

"The Tardis can seem a little… _different _at first, so relax and try not to faint…"

The Doctor flung open the door of the Tardis. Emily gasped and felt herself go weak at the knees, a sturdy arm around her shoulders keeping her upright.

It was… it was _huge. _Bigger on the inside than it was on the outside.

"But…" Emily struggled to say, lost for words.

"I know, I know…" The Doctor gently ushered her in through the door and shut it gently behind it.

Emily walked over to the confusing looking control centre in the middle of the Tardis.

"How do you remember what they all do?" she asked in disbelief.

"I don't," the Doctor smiled. "Most of the time I just make it up as I go along."

"Where can it go?" Emily asked, fingering one of the more complicated looking panels.

"Anywhere in the past, present or future of the universe. Pretty cool, huh?" Emily grinned.

"It's a little bit more than just _pretty cool. _It's amazing!"

The Doctor looked at the fifteen year old girl standing before him, taking only a split second to make up his mind.

"Emily?"

"Yeah?"

"What do you think of going on a little trip for your birthday?"

Emily beamed.


End file.
